1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team


The 1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men’s basketball team represented the University of Illiniois.

1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
APNo. 19
Record17–5 (10-4 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coachHowie Braun (17th season)
MVPJohn Kerr
CaptainJohn Kerr
Home arenaHuff Hall
Seasons
1953–54 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Indiana 12 2   .857 20 4   .833
No. 13 Iowa 11 3   .786 17 5   .773
No. 19 Illinois 10 4   .714 17 5   .773
Minnesota 10 4   .714 17 5   .773
Wisconsin 6 8   .429 12 10   .545
Northwestern 6 8   .429 9 13   .409
Ohio State 5 9   .357 11 11   .500
Michigan State 4 10   .286 9 13   .409
Michigan 3 11   .214 9 13   .409
Purdue 3 11   .214 9 13   .409
Rankings from AP Poll

Regular season

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In his seventh year at Illinois, Harry Combes continued to offer the fans of the Fighting Illini a successful team that they could be follow across the country to record crowds. The 1953-54 team returned one of the most dominant players in the NCAA, Johnny "Red" Kerr. During the season, Kerr shattered Illinois’ single-season scoring record by tallying 556 points in his senior year. Kerr’s 1,299 career points in three seasons currently ranks 20th on the all-time Illinois scoring list. After his Illinois career came to an end, Kerr started a 12-year professional career followed by becoming the first head coach of the Chicago Bulls in 1966.

The 1954 team added twin brothers, Paul and Phil Judson from Hebron, Illinois, Bruce Brothers and Bill Ridley as sophomores. A youth movement that helped the Illini finish in a 3rd place tie in the Big Ten. Unfortunately the Illini would lose 5 total games with three of the five losses coming at the hands of ranked opponents. The starting lineup included captain John Kerr at the center position, Jim Wright and Paul Judson at guard and Bruce Brothers and Max Hooper at the forward slots.[1]

Roster

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1953–54 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 7 Morris Sterneck 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Salem High School Salem, Illinois
G 9 Elmer Plew 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Jr Paris High School Paris, Illinois
G 11 Bill Ridley 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 152 lb (69 kg) So Taylorville High School Taylorville, Illinois
G 12 Warren Wilkinson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Frankfort Community High School West Frankfort, Illinois
G 14 Robert Leigh 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So East Lynn High School East Lynn, Illinois
G 15 Glass Peterson 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) So Pekin High School Pekin, Illinois
G 16 Jim Wright 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Lawrenceville High School Lawrenceville, Illinois
C 22 Johnny Kerr (C) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Tilden High School Chicago, Illinois
G 24 Ed Makovsky 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr Morton High School Cicero, Illinois
F 25 Robert Reitsch 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) So Rockford West High School Rockford, Illinois
F 27 Jim Dutcher 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Jr Downers Grove High School Downers Grove, Illinois
G 30 Phil Judson 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Alden-Hebron High School Hebron, Illinois
F 32 Bruce Brothers 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Quincy Senior High School Quincy, Illinois
G 34 Paul Judson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Alden-Hebron High School Hebron, Illinois
F 47 Max Hooper 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Mt. Vernon High School Mt. Vernon, Illinois
F 48 Earl Newman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Jr Marshall High School Chicago, Illinois
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule

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Source[2]

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state[3]
Non-Conference regular season
12/1/1953*
no, no
Ohio W 88–54  1-0
Huff Hall (6,913)
Champaign, IL
12/5/1953*
no, no
at Oklahoma W 86–61  2-0
McCasland Field House (5,000)
Norman, OK
12/9/1953*
no, no
No. 9 Butler W 80–48  3-0
Huff Hall (6,913)
Champaign, IL
12/12/1953*
no, no
No. 9 Alabama W 77–54  4-0
Huff Hall (6,410)
Champaign, IL
12/19/1953*
no, no
No. 4 DePaul W 79–65  5-0
Huff Hall (2,719)
Champaign, IL
12/21/1953*
no, no
No. 4 No. 7 Oklahoma A&M L 60–65 OT 5-1
Huff Hall (4,234)
Champaign, IL
12/29/1953*
no, no
No. 8 Utah State W 88–61  6-1
Huff Hall (2,649)
Champaign, IL
Big Ten regular season
1/1/1954
no, no
No. 8 No. 6 Minnesota L 72–84  6-2
(0-1)
Huff Hall (6,193)
Champaign, IL
1/4/1954
no, no
No. 8 at Northwestern
Rivalry
W 66–65  7-2
(1-1)
McGaw Memorial Hall (9,253)
Evanston, IL
1/9/1954
no, no
No. 15 at Michigan State L 59–60  7-3
(1-2)
Jenison Fieldhouse (9,002)
East Lansing, MI
1/11/1954
no, no
No. 15 Ohio State W 90–76  8-3
(2-2)
Huff Hall (8,683)
Champaign, IL
1/16/1954
no, no
No. 19 at Ohio State W 82–78  9-3
(3-2)
Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (8,683)
Columbus, OH
1/18/1954
no, no
No. 19 Iowa
Rivalry
L 70–79  9-4
(2-3)
Huff Hall (6,913)
Champaign, IL
2/1/1954*
no, no
at DePaul W 71–61  10-4
Alumni Hall (9,678)
Chicago, IL
2/6/1954
no, no
Michigan W 87–68  11-4
(3-3)
Huff Hall (6,913)
Champaign, IL
2/8/1954
no, no
Purdue W 89–55  12-4
(4-3)
Huff Hall (6,913)
Champaign, IL
2/13/1954
no, no
at Wisconsin W 70–64 OT 13-4
(5-3)
Wisconsin Field House (13,000)
Madison, WI
2/20/1954
no, no
at No. 10 Iowa
Rivalry
W 74–51  14-4
(6-3)
Iowa Field House (15,700)
Iowa City, IA
2/22/1954
no, no
Wisconsin W 66–64  15-4
(7-3)
Huff Hall (6,913)
Champaign, IL
2/27/1954
no, no
No. 20 at Michigan W 79–61  16-4
(8-3)
Yost Field House (4,500)
Ann Arbor, MI
3/1/1954
no, no
No. 20 Northwestern
Rivalry
W 84–82  17-4
(9-3)
Huff Hall (6,782)
Champaign, IL
3/6/1954
no, no
at No. 2 Indiana
Rivalry
L 64–67  17-5
(9-4)
The Fieldhouse (11,000)
Bloomington, IN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

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Player stats

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Player Games Played Field Goals Free Throws Points
John Kerr 22 210 136 556
Paul Judson 22 92 62 246
Bruce Brothers 22 64 59 187
Max Hooper 22 67 34 168
Jim Wright 22 59 45 163
Bill Ridley 19 30 54 114
Jim Dutcher 19 30 32 92
Ed Makovsky 22 22 21 65
Morris Sterneck 16 17 9 43
Elmer Plew 13 7 6 20
Phil Judson 9 4 5 13
Warren Wilkinson 5 2 1 5
Robert Reitsch 9 1 2 4
Earl Newman 4 0 2 2

[4]

Awards and honors

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Team players drafted into the NBA

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Player NBA Club Round Pick
Johnny Kerr Syracuse Nationals 1 6

[6]

Rankings

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References

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  1. ^ Fighting Illini Basketball: A Hardwood History By News-Gazette, Sports Publishing LLC ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  2. ^ University of Illinois Fighting Illini Statistics Summary for 1953-54, FightingIllini.com
  3. ^ Schedule
  4. ^ Season Stats Archived 2014-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "List of MVPs" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2013.
  6. ^ 1954 NBA Draft Archived 2013-01-05 at the Wayback Machine